I love that LinuxCNC is hacker friendly and can be customized as needed,
but I also think it'd be great if there was a simple generic
plug-and-play solution for a 3 axis mill or router and another for a
lathe. It's all some people would need and it'd go a long way toward
lowering the initial learning curve for those destined to greater
things. Buy a list of commonly available hardware, plug it together,
install a pre-configured ISO and change the travel limits in the setup.
Bob's your uncle. Now, it could be a Pi4. There is still a lot of
customizing that could be done by selecting the appropriate motors
depending on the size of the machine, the user interface, etc. Whenever
I suggested that, I'd get:
1) LinuxCNC is developed by hackers, for hackers. We don't want all of
the support that rank amateurs would entail. It's a net negative for
the people who develop LinuxCNC.
2) Great idea. Why don't YOU do that?
On 12/23/21 2:25 PM, Matthew Herd wrote:
I think it's a great idea, I've had a lot of the same thoughts in the
past. Mach3 was traditionally the "go to" solution instead of the Acorn
CNC unit due to ease of implementation. I haven't tried either, but agree
that LinuxCNC has a steep learning curve. And that comes as a prior
hobbyist Linux user. Once you are familiar, it is remarkably flexible and
powerful. But that requires the learning stage.
In order to actually do it, it might be nice if we could get someone doing
a conversion or new build to walk through each step on the forum. It's
been done here and there, but another one might not hurt.
As to the clearpath servos, I think "clear choice" is a bit of an
overstatement. They're good, but a true AC servo seems miles ahead. And
the various Chinese ones seem quite good for the price.
Matt
On Thu, Dec 23, 2021 at 2:05 PM John Dammeyer <jo...@autoartisans.com>
wrote:
Everyone is probably partying or drinking egg nog this close to Christmas
but on one of the local metal groups a new member posted that he was
converting his mill to CNC.
His first posting:
"Just doing a cnc conversion to my Craftex knee mill, using the Acorn cnc
board and Clearpath Nema 34 servo's, direct drive. Motor has been converted
to VFD, and just installed a rotor encoder to measure RPM accurately. Post
some pic's when I'm done. Now I just have to learn g-code."
Here's my question to him:
"May I ask why you chose Acorn over say a MESA Solution <
http://store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=7I76E%20>
and LinuxCNC running on a PC or Pi4. Granted Pi4 4GB is hard to find at the
moment but PCs can be had for next to nothing as well as LinuxCNC is free."
And his answer:
"Did my research, liked that it was Windows compatible (sorry been at
computers too long and don't need to learn another set of headaches).
Additionally it is plug and play using the add on board from CNC4PC for the
Clearpath SDSK. Clearpath was to only choice based on the torque and built
in encoding and processing. Based on the basic encoder 0.000125 is possible
if all works as designed and the winds in the right direction."
I checked and Clearpath motors are not cheap so I don't think money was an
obstacle. And I understand being a Windows type about not wanting to learn
a new OS. I've had a love/hate relationship with Unix/Linux since a PDP-10
in university. No choice but to learn it for Beaglebone or Pi and now of
course LCNC.
But I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea in the new year to develop a
build thread that takes a beginner through conversion of a mill to LCNC so
it appears to be turnkey like the perhaps the ACORN CNC approach.
Comments?
John
"ELS! Nothing else works as well for your Lathe"
Automation Artisans Inc.
www dot autoartisans dot com
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